Old Testament

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Pentateuch

The first part of the Old Testament is called the Pentateuch which means the five books. It is also called the Torah, which means the Law. These books are also called the Books of Moses. They include:

• Genesis
• Exodus
• Leviticus
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy

The events described in these books, from the calling of Abraham to the death of Moses, probably took place sometime in the second millennium before Christ (2000-1200 BC).

Although scholars believe that the Law was not written by the personal hand of Moses, and that the books show evidence of being the result of a number of oral and written traditions and time periods, the Church connects the Law with Moses, the great man of God to whom "the Lord used to speak ... face to face, as a man speaks to his friend" (Exodus 33:11).

Historical books

The next set of books cover the history of Israel from the settlement in the promised land of Canaan to the first centuries before Christ. They include:

• Joshua (Jesus Navi)
• Judges
• Ruth
• I Kingdoms (I Samuel)
• II Kingdoms (II Samuel)
• III Kingdoms (I Kings)
• IV Kingdoms (II Kings)
• I Paraleipomenon (I Chronicles)
• II Paraleipomenon (II Chronicles)
• Ezra
• Nehemiah
• Esther
• I Esdras
• II Esdras
• Tobit (Tobias)
• Judith
• I Maccabees
• II Maccabees
• III Maccabees (English Bible )

In the canon of the Orthodox Church, which is generally that of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, 1 and 2 Samuel are called 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Kings are called 3 and 4 Kings. Also, the so-called apocryphal books, listed above after Esther, are considered by the Orthodox as genuine parts of the Bible. The Old Testament apocrypha is a body of writings considered by the non-Orthodox to be of close association with the Bible, but not actually part of its official canonical contents.

The historical books of the Bible were written well after the events described in them actually took place.

Poetical books

• Job
  
• Psalms
  
• Proverbs
  
• Ecclesiastes
  
• Song of Solomon
  

Prophets

Major prophets

• Isaiah
  
• Jeremiah
  
• Lamentations
  
• Ezekiel
  
• Daniel
  

Minor prophets

• Hosea
  
• Joel
  
• Amos
  
• Obadiah
  
• Jonah
  
• Micah
  
• Nahum
  
• Habakkuk
  
• Zephaniah
  
• Haggai
  
• Zechariah
  
• Malachi

The Deuterocanon

Historical

• Tobit
• Judith
• 1 Maccabees
• 2 Maccabees
• Additions to Esther

Wisdom

• Wisdom of Solomon
• Wisdom of Ben Sirach (also called Ecclesiasticus)

Prophets

• Baruch
• Letter of Jeremiah
• Additions to Daniel (including Susana)

External links

• Old Testament Survey, by Douglas Stuart (seminary class)
• An Introduction to the Old Testament, by Raymond B. Dillard and Tremper Longman III
• Old Testament Studies
• About the Deuterocanon (Second Canonical Books)